After a long, loud car ride back to Matt's house, the five of them slipped in the back door as quietly as they could and made themselves comfortable in Matt's basement. They sat on the couches in front of a massive plasma screen, lit from behind with soothing blue lights.

Matt's basement was half finished; carpet on one side with a home theater and a cement floor with haphazard storage on the other. There was a bathroom and a guest bedroom off to the left on the home theater side.

Lily sat in Rob's lap which made Evan feel jealous. She hadn't said much the whole ride back, only texted. It was a constant thing, her phone buzzing every few seconds, her thumbs dancing on the keypad. Evan's heart had leapt with joy when she'd said she wanted to sit next to him, but she'd been silent nearly the whole way back.

She'd only spoken twice.

Once she asked, "Do you care if I smoke in here?" to which Evan had said, "Absolutely not."

She'd lit a cigarette up and smoked it, cracking the window and one-handing her iPhone. She lit up another as soon as the first was finished.

Then the other time she asked, "Hey, can I plug my phone in somewhere?"

"I only have the radio and CD, I can't plug in iPhones," Evan had said, wishing to God he had the most modern technology at his disposal.

"Oh," said Lily.

"Sorry," said Evan.

"It's all good, bro."

Evan couldn't think of a conversation starter and anyway Brian and Matt were drunkenly bickering about who was going to get the guest room in Matt's basement. Rob stayed on his own phone and occasionally growled at them to shut the fuck up and stop drooling on him.

Down in the basement, the argument continued.

"It's my fucking house, jackass, you're taking the couch."

"Go sleep in your own fucking bed, you fucking idiot."

"No, I'm sleeping down here, it's too fucking hot upstairs."

"I'm sleeping in your bed then."

"Fuck you, you'll go into Tiffany's room and feel her up."

"I'LL FEEL YOUR MOM!" screamed Brian.

"SHHHHH," everyone hissed.

Five minutes later they had settled down. Matt and Brian let the argument die off without a resolution, sitting side by side on the couch in a boozed-up stupor. Lily was comfortably positioned in Rob's lap like she had been at the Blue. Rob reclined back in the chair, cupping Lily's petite ass with one hand.

Evan looked through his photos on his flip phone. It was the only thing he could do with it when he wanted to kill time. They all just sat there, everyone drunk and docile and winding down. Everyone but Evan.

"Is there any alcohol left?" he asked abruptly.

"Yeah, there's that fifth of Jägermeister out by the fire, I don't think we finished it," said Rob, eyes on the ceiling and Lily's face peacefully pressed against his wide chest.

Evan went outside, letting the door close quietly behind him. The night was humid and smelled like smoke. The field behind Matt's house was dark and rustling in a thin breeze. A train whistle sounded off in town.

The fire pit was embers, a wisp of smoke curling off the ashes. Evan found the Jager bottle by the light of his phone. It was about a third full. He tossed it back and took two gulps, gagging at the burn and the cough syrup taste. He did another. Then another. The bottle was now only a quarter full. Evan felt the beginnings of a delightful sway kick in as he turned back to the house.

Back downstairs the mood had shifted. The stereo was on, playing some garage rock song Evan hadn't heard before. Lily was off Rob's lap, dancing in front of the TV. She'd taken her hoodie off. Her small t-shirt and leggings didn't leave much to the imagination. Evan's face burned red hot. His dick jumped in his pants again.

"I'm drunk," Evan announced.

"So happy for you," said Brian. He reached over to give Evan a fist bump.

"What are we listening to?" Evan asked, sitting down on the couch in between Matt and Brian.

Lily was directly in front of him. Evan stared up at her, delirious with desire.

"New Dead Weather," said Rob from the easy chair.

"This is my shit right here," said Lily, dancing and smiling dreamily.

The four guys watched her move. Her body seemed to melt into the air around her.

"Take something else off," said Rob. "You look like you're getting warm there. You should take something else off and cool down."

Lily kept that knowing, closed-mouthed smile on her face and reached forward. She plucked the bottle of Jager out of Evan's hand and tilted it vertical, downing a shot. Then she passed it back to Evan.

"Now you take one," she said. "You're not drunk enough."

He did, sucking it down and looking into her dark eyes.

Lily resumed her dance. Evan's loins glowed red hot. The four young men stared, spellbound.

"Now pass it," she instructed Evan.

The Dead Weather banged out the blues softly through the surround sound, a bumpy rhythm under a dusty, southern-fried riff. The female singer sang about licking on the dust, or something.

Evan gave the bottle to Matt, who tossed back a swallow of his own. His eyes didn't leave Lily, either. They glistened behind his glasses.

In one graceful, fluid movement, Lily lifted her shirt off and Evan saw with a tremendous rush of adrenaline that she wasn't wearing her bikini top underneath. Her nipples were red and raw, like ripe strawberries, her belly milk white and so smooth it looked polished. Her shirt fluttered to the floor.

Evan saw the other tattoo on her right shoulder was a blue flower. He longed to know what was written on her waist. Her black pants covered it up, the tops of the letters winking out from above her waistband.

The bottle went around the circle, and when all four of them had taken their shot Rob passed it back to Lily and she downed the last bit topless. Her black hair, shoulder-length, swayed like the curtains in the booths at the Blue. She reached back and turned up the stereo, but not too much. The skull seemed to wink from her shoulder.

Rob was stone stoic in the easy chair, eyes glittering like jewels. Matt was slack-jawed and gaping. Brian was positively drooling.

"Girl, lemme take you into the bathroom," he slurred desperately. "Girl, I'll make you cum. Girl, I'll make you cum TWICE!"

Lily slid her thumbs under her waistband and slipped her yoga pants down around her legs. Evan saw with great revelation that the tattoo over her privates was only one word—RESPECT.

Lily didn't acknowledge Brian. She took two sultry steps out of her dropped pants and strode over to the easy chair to drape her naked self across Rob, who slid a hand up her side to give her left tit a squeeze. She gave a little squeak. The other three young men breathed heavily through their noses, primal lust surging through every conduit in their bodies.

"Look at that sweet little pussy," Brian moaned, his voice fraught with a bottomless hunger. "I want that pussy, baby."

Lily stopped her orgasmic movements on Rob and raised her head.

"You want my pussy?"

"Yea, baby," whimpered Brian. "I want it."

"Okay," she said.

She took two fingers, stuck them in her mouth, sucked them, then reached between her legs and rubbed herself.

"Thank you, Jesus," Evan heard Matt whisper.

Lily fingered herself, letting the moment simmer, and then suddenly she leapt off Rob's lap like a gazelle, ran over and smacked her wet fingers across Brian's face.

"There ya go," she said.

Brian shrieked, clapped a hand to his face.

"Holy shit, holy shit, gross, fuckin' bitch, fuckin' sick tease bitch!"

He ran to the bathroom and slammed the door. They heard the faucet running.

Rob got up from the chair and stood behind Lily. He took her by the shoulders and gently prodded her over to the spare bedroom. She went, Evan and Matt still watching every muscle in her body move under her skin. The door closed behind them.

"Son of a bitch," Evan heard Matt snarl beside him. "God fuckin' dammit, just take it all for yourself, why don't you?"

Brian came out of the bathroom after a few minutes, his face wet.

"Rob and her in there, I take it?"

He nodded at the closed door, from behind which there could be heard soft thumps and little moans.

"Yeah, fuckin' a," grumbled Matt.

"Thought so," said Brian. "Fuckin tease."

He rubbed his cheek.

"Let's play Halo," Matt said, getting up and crawling over to the Xbox and switching it on. He took a controller and passed one to Brian. He offered a third one to Evan but Evan waved it away.

Evan was slavering drunk. The room spun. He thought of Jason, reduced to ash and drifting on Lake Michigan somewhere. He thought of Maddie, sleeping sedated in a hospital bed an hour away. He thought of his parents, probably awake in their bedroom, his mother having more of her seemingly endless crying fits on her side of the bed, his father up and pacing and fighting the urge to go to the fridge for a beer. He thought of Lily and Rob, fucking the daylights out of each other ten feet away.

Brian and Matt played Halo while Evan lapsed in and out of consciousness on the couch.

Some time later

he woke up and Lily

Was back,

sitting at the other end of the couch,

with her shirt and pants on again

Rob was playing Halo with

Matt and Brian

Lily watched them without

A word, she didn't see

Evan, awake and

watching her

The melancholy expression on her face

in the melancholy blue light made her look both

Hopelessly tragic and

Beautiful

Evan nodded off again and

Then

He woke up again and now

It was dark in the basement

The blue light was off and

Brian and

Rob were gone and

Matt was in the easy chair

Now

and Lily

Was naked again,

humping on Matt and he

Was feeling her up, kneading

Her small tits with busy fingers

"Where's Rob?" Evan asked them

Neither of them answered

Lily lay down on Matt and

Their mouths locked together

Their tongues intertwining over

their lips and teeth

"Where's Rob?" Evan asked again,

Louder

"He took Brian home," said Matt

Impatiently as he and Lily separated, not

Looking at Evan, Lily threw her head back

As Matt pinched one of her nipples and

Took the other into his mouth, suckling

Lily cried out softly and Matt

stood up, his arms still around

her, and

together

they both made for the spare bedroom

The door closed and Evan was alone.

But then

He was awake again

And Lily was lying down on the couch

Next to him

Fully clothed in her black t-shirt and

Yoga pants

she

curled up against him and

the sensation of her body

against his felt incredible

Indescribable

He wrapped his arms

Around her slight shoulders

Feeling how light and fragile

She was, how delicate, just

Lying there against him, her

Thin legs, little toes wrapped

In Band-Aids poking against

his shin, and they lay

there together in the

blue light

from behind the TV

the darkness

surrounding them, they

lay there for a good

while, and Evan

Realized it was the first

Time he'd felt at peace

Since he'd gotten that

Phone call in Matt's

backyard a month or so

Prior

He kissed Lily's damp forehead

And smelled her, a scent that

Made him think of winter

Turning into spring, and he

Cuddled her tighter and

Felt her own hands fold

Up against his chest like

A mantis and he pulled her

in and

He drifted off one last time

And he didn't wake up until

The sun was coming in through

The slim basement windows